COVID-19 Updates

Adrian and I have been closely (my family might say obsessively) following the COVID-19 outbreak for weeks, and we’ve come to the decision to cancel Spring Fiber School. I’m deeply disappointed, but I believe it is the right call.

While this part of the country is currently showing few cases, and our small gathering doesn’t hit any social distancing thresholds, many students would be traveling from afar (including from current hot spots), putting themselves or other students at risk to get here. Adrian’s own local hospital has two dozen cases, and her asthma puts her at particular risk from this disease.

Based on the timelines of the spread in other countries and current CDC guidance, the likely U.S. epidemic will probably edge at least into summer, and from there it gets quite hot in the building, especially for anyone to want to spend all day in a sweltering Dye Lab, so we’ve decided to cancel outright instead of trying to reschedule.

My greatest hope is that we’re overreacting and regret cancelling. But at this early stage, working to prevent the spread can have exponentially positive benefits. I hope the financial and mental pain of the broad social cancellations around the country will help stifle the spread of the disease and contribute to a best-case-scenario in this country.

I’ll start processing refunds for everyone next week. Workshops are our financial backbone, so this will be very painful. If you want to transfer your refund to an Art Club gift certificate or just give our shop some love, we’d be super grateful. I’m sure Adrian would appreciate Hello Yarn love as well. :)

Dress School has been rescheduled for September 10 – 13. Please contact me for a refund if the new dates don’t work for you.

xo
Nikol

P.S. If you’re not in an outbreak community and you’re baffled by the seemingly outsized response, this chart captures the importance of early containment/mitigation (full article). It shows the exponential effect of total cases averted in a month from averting a single case today vs. a week later. It’s bananas. Math!

Graphic: Britta Jewell. Full Story: The Exponential Power of Now